The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses

"The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses", by Malka Older, 2025, 256 pages, 69k words. Book 3 of "The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti".

LOL! The prior book of this series, my review concluded:

Also, academia as portrayed by Doctora Older (an academic) totally convinces me I dodged a bullet when I decided in 1974 NOT to go into academia. I could never have done it.

So, the prior book, I was thankful not to be an academic. This book, I am, sadly, also thankful not to be a (lesbian) woman. The emotional relationships are so immature, so juvenile. The word "histrionic" came to mind. Hmmm, who knew that "Histrionic personality disorder" was a thing?

This is a short read, I was relieved when it was over. It wrapped up its conclusion pretty succinctly.

But, this may just be me. A few years ago, after interviewing high school seniors for admission to MIT for 10 years or so, I decided to hang it up. It seemed like I used to get kids who wanted to help fix the world, increasingly the goals of the kids I was interviewing were so stupid & superficial. I decided it was my fault, not theirs. They just needed someone closer in age to them. So I quit interviewing.

This book may be the same thing. Maybe I'm just too old (just turned 75) & crusty for it.

The hardware framework for this book is still fascinating: loops built circling Jupiter, with cities at various locations, normally at loop intersections.

I've said many times, we should disqualify men from holding public office for 20-50 years, I'd bet the women could clean things up & save the planet in no time.

But, based on this book, in which almost all of the characters are women, if in charge they would spend most of their time having vapors, crying, & deciding what kind of tea to drink. & occasionally getting into fist-fights?!?!?

This is a Holmes & Watson deal. Mossa is the FBI-analog agent investigator, Pleiti is the academic helper. They renew their past sexual relationship in the 2nd book, my review here.

In that review, I talked about how I thought that Doctora Older had left Pleiti ungendered through the 1st 2 books. I didn't like the books enough to go back & do a reread & check. I thought that was an interesting thing for an author to do.

About when this latest book came out, Doctora Older was I think talking about it on BlueSky. I asked her, "Was Pleiti ungendered?". She replied (I can't find it on BlueSky), "12 references to gender or so, LOL", or some such.

Reading the book, on the 4th page or so of the Prologue, Mossa refers to Pleiti as "the woman".

There follow many references to Pleiti in the feminine gender. Then, in Chapter 15, we get from Pleiti:

it was the most distressing day of my menses (which might account for some of my crankiness)

I'm definitely all in on, Pleiti is a woman.

What happened? I thought it was an interesting literary effort, to have an ungendered character. Did Doctora Older get busted by LGBTQIAZ-P activists for being coy rather than embracing & promoting the "sapphic romance" that reviews of the 1st 2 novels mentioned?

Another thing that was different in this 3rd book was, I think many more neologisms, but, more than that, lots of Spanish words. I've been studying Spanish for ~18 months, I luv the spanish words, but, here too, did she get busted by latinx activists for not embracing her Hispanic heritage more fully? But, also, a few Dutch words???

Here is a list of all some of the non-English words in the book, with Spanish translations if I could find them. I think it would have been nice for Doctora Older to have provided this glossary at the end of the book, rather than making me do it.

• avergonzada - embarrassed
• pajeons - ???
• panda-de-dios - Panda of god ???
• panekoek - ???
• pourboire - tip (French)
• frunced - France ??? Gathered ???
• por ejemplo - for example
• pues - well (interjection)
• mueca - grimace
• fossick - rummage (English)
• comemierda - eat shit
• suvver - cork??? Applied to a person in a disparaging way.
• cuidadoso - careful
• congelada - frozen
• ráfagas - gusts
• resaca - hangover
• ronca - snore
• souprire - sigh (French)
• cabecidura - stubborn, pig-headed
• chevere - great (exclamation)
• chisme - gossip
• toch - anyway (Dutch)
• gezellig - sociable (Dutch)
• panza - belly
• recamara - bedroom
• fabricada - manufactured
• événement - event (French)
• aficion - love
• plezier - fun (Dutch)
• risueño - smiling
• enganched - hooked (Dutch)
• clandestinidad - secrecy
• festje - feast?
• subquerer - accidentally

Here's the neologisms:

• gradulent - presumably "grad student"
• namourade - maybe Dutch or German, inamorata?

Other:

• boîte - nightclub
• vale - ???
• blague - a joke or piece of nonsense
• brume - mist or fog

****** SPOILER ALERT ******

In the last chapter, Mossa tells Pleiti that she wants to quit the FBI & become a private investigator. & she wants Pleiti to be her assistant, & chronicler. So, moving forward, the series is explicitly Holmes & Watson.

I think this will be a very successful & hopefully profitable series for Doctora Older. But, I'm done with it. I have currently 178 unread books on my iPad, I don't think I will finish them in my lifetime. So, books like these, which are well written & I kinda like but also kinda find annoying, as well as kinda boring, I will take a pass on.